


Der Großmann

by ZwitterZwitter



Category: Rammstein
Genre: Alcohol, Friendship, Fun, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Just pure innocent fun, Just the boys being themselves, Laughter, My First Fanfic, No Slash, No Smut, Other, Reeshy almost dies, Spooky, Vodka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29656305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZwitterZwitter/pseuds/ZwitterZwitter
Summary: Richard gets bored during a small break between concerts while touring in a remote part of Germany and gets bitchy. The guys decide to have a little fun scaring him.Originally posted on 31 Dec. 2019Please be kind and give it all the love it once got, it was deleted by mistake!
Kudos: 6





	Der Großmann

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling like I had to revisit my first work and was happily enjoying when I noticed some typos here and there. So I decided to edit it and fix them but tragedy happened and I accidentally deleted the whole thing like the Dummkopf I am!  
> Luckily I still had the file saved somewhere otherwise I would've panicked and died a bit inside. 
> 
> Originally posted on 31 Dec. 2019  
> Original notes are at the end now. (Slightly edited to match end notes instead of beginning notes)

_Boredom_. The one thing Richard hated the most. He knew he'd start overthinking and getting anxious when he was bored. Sometimes he'd start eating whatever available at the moment due to this. Sometimes he'd get shit-faced drunk or high to stop his thoughts, and most of the time it worked. Paul or Till would sometimes join his madness, but this time they'd all agreed to not go further than alcohol. He remembered the times with the super boosters and the parties that came with them and a smirk crept out on his lips.

Back in their youth when everything started to work out for them, and they experimented with everything that crossed their path. The healthy and responsible part of him was glad it was over, yet there was still that small part of him who wished he could do a line right then and there….No, it was not worth it. Not with how hard he had worked to get rid of his coke addiction, all of them having families, and being in the middle of a tour. Not worth it at all.

They allowed themselves a fun night now and then, but preferred a healthier lifestyle now than what they had their first times in America. Not to mention he knew they were not getting any younger. Withdrawal was a bitch.

An explosion on the TV in front of them brought him back to reality.  
Rammstein sat in the living room of the cabin they had temporarily gotten while they waited for their next concert watching whatever shit was on TV at the moment, and Richard was starting to get anxious after realizing he wasn't the only one bored out of his mind.

They had gotten there the previous day to rest for a few days before continuing to tour Germany and move to other European countries. But so far he wasnt really enjoying the environment.  
He moved his gaze from the TV and looked at his band mates. Schneider sat with a massive resting bitch face, his reading glasses on, eyes on his phone. Either texting his wife or going through whatever Instagram had to offer.

  
None of them were big fans of sharing their lives on social media, Till and Doom were the most active ones, but neither nearly as public as many other celebrities were. Still, they watched what others posted, they liked to see what other artists were into at the moment, what news the media brought them, and even laughed at random memes that came up on their feed sometimes.

Till's head was rested all the way back on the couch. His eyes closed, arms crossed. Maybe he was awake, maybe not. Sometimes he rested like this but would still be listening to every little thing that surrounded him.

Paul and Flake still stared at the TV with a similar serious expression. Paul used a blanket to keep himself warm. The weather this time of year wasnt so bad, but it could get chilly from one moment to another. They seemed to be paying attention, but Richard knew their minds were in a completely different place. Just like his.

His eyes then fell on Oli, who was also on his phone. A small smirk slowly formed on the youngest man's lips as if trying to contain it before Richard heard Schneider's phone vibrating a couple times. His attention moved back to the drummer who raised an eyebrow and let out a small laugh after seeing the worst meme Oli had sent him in years. He then looked up at the bassist and muttered with amusement in his voice "you're such an asshole."

Oli smiled. "Danke"

Then silence filled the room yet again.The black haired guitarist tried to focus on the scam going on on TV and listened to the narrator while his anxiety and boredom increased with every passing second.

His mind then traveled to Berlin, to his youngest daughter, Maxime. He wished she was running around in the cabin with them. She would keep them occupied with her innocent and playful nature, but unfortunately for him she wasn't, and he was sitting in a mostly quiet living room while his mind raced with a thousand thoughts per second.  
His daughter was a tornado of positivity and fun, and he needed her so bad at that moment.

He could not stand this. Being so still and so quiet was torture for him.

Like a ticking time bomb his anxiety exploded. 

He let out a sigh before abruptly getting up from his seat and walked over to the kitchen finally earning his friends' attention.

"Everything alright?" He heard Paul behind him. After no reply came he decided to turn and look at the pissed off Richard that wandered around the kitchen opening one of the cabinets to grab a glass before taking one of the bottles of vodka from the counter.

"Reesh?" Paul tried again "You're doing it again."

"Are you not tired of this?" Richard growled motioning with his hand at his confused band mates before looking down at the glass in his hand only to put it down and start opening the bottle.

"Of what?" Paul asked gently

"Here we go..." Flake mumbled sarcastically with his eyes still fixed on the television, making Doom chuckle. 

Oli gave a small nudge to Till when he saw Richard drinking directly from the bottle instead of using the glass he had grabbed.

"Scholle..." Till sighed giving Richard a disappointed look as if asking 'Seriously, Richard, what is it now?'

"You cant be enjoying this!" Richard complained after swallowing the vodka. The burning in his throat soothing for just a moment before it dissipated.

"What do you suggest? We're in the middle of nowhere, we cant go out and party in this town." Paul asked continuing their conversation

"I dont know..." Richard fidgeted anxiously "anything but sitting like a mindless idiot, maybe?"

"And you think drinking alone like a mindless idiot is any better?" Schneider asked him with all seriousness in his voice making the guitarist frown and take another gulp from the bottle taking the challenge. The drummer rolled his eyes. 

Typical Richard. 

"If you want to start drinking, we could start a fire outside and have fun like normal people instead of having to babysit you" Till suggested making Richard scoff and shake his head again.

"Normal people?! Listen to yourself, is there anything we do that doesn't have to do with fi-"

"It is obviously not a random fire." Flake interrupted with annoyance before he could continue with his argument. Paul nodded "yeah, we could gather around the firepit outside and have some fun"

"Sounds good to me." Doom shrugged, a tiny smirk on his lips

"I'm in" Oli smirked letting them know he liked the idea too.

Silence filled the place once more. The five members staring at the grumpy Richard standing in the kitchen clearly having a fit and battling with himself on whether he should keep fighting his friends and force himself to go to bed or agree with them and have a more social and fun end of the day, looking from one of his friends to another until Till got up from his position and approached him.

He put a hand on his shoulder giving a soft smirk of reassurance, his other hand taking the alcohol away from his friend, and suggested "Go take a warm shower, calm down, and come join us outside. We'll start the fire and get everything ready. Sounds good?"

Richard gave himself another moment to look into Till's eyes, then sighed and nodded in defeat. "Ja. Sounds good."

* * *

When Richard opened the door he had to admit Till was right to suggest a warm shower and was glad he agreed to the idea. He felt more relaxed and his mind was clearer than before.

His still damp and messy hair feeling colder with the cool wind around him.  
It wasn't cold enough for him to shiver, but enough for him to get a hoodie on his way out.

He looked around before closing the door behind him and thought perhaps this was a good idea after all. Even though they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, as Paul had put it, and he preferred the city, the woods seemed to provide the privacy and calmness they wouldn't have gotten anywhere else.

As he left the cabin he could hear and see his friends having fun around the small fire they had created. The soft sound of crickets and one or two owls in the distance also caught his attention. He had to admit it was somewhat relaxing. Peaceful.

Flake and Paul were laughing, Till and Schneider smirked and Oli seemed to be telling a story of some sort. He approached and sat down between Paul and Till. The smaller guitarist looked at him and asked "alles gut?" 

Richard nodded "what did I miss?"

"Nothing much. Oli was telling us how his mom loved to threaten him with Der großmann when he was a child" Till shrugged

"Der großmann?" Richard frowned not understanding what they were talking about. All the laughter died down and all the eyes, now surprised, were on him once more as if he had said or done something extremely offensive. He frowned not understanding their reaction "What?"

"You never heard of him?" Schneider asked looking just as surprised as the others

"I was horrified of him when I was a kid" Flake continued

"Me too!" Paul added

"The Americans took this story and morphed it into Slenderman. You must've heard it with that name perhaps." Oli explained but Richard still shook his head. He didn't understand. He had never heard of such story and certainly didn't remember hearing about Slenderman during his time in America.

"I think its story time" Paul smiled but Till shook his head and said "we are not drunk enough for this."

"Come on, he's never heard of Der Großmann! What do you mean we're not drunk enough?" Paul argued

"I agree with Till" Flake spoke "I think as adults we will enjoy the story more if we are not sober"

"Let us drink, then" Till smiled handing Richard the bottle of vodka he drank from earlier in the night.

The band drank for a while. They remembered the early days of Rammstein and laughed at the time Richard fell off a pyramid in Teotihuacan, Mexico. Then Paul remembered an interview with a clown one of the times they were there during the Mutter tour, making the drummer laugh, he recalled how the man painted his face to match his and gave him a clown nose that Paul ended up wearing. 

Then the topic lead them to their children. Till remembering his time as a single dad, Christoph told them how his kids tried cooking for him and his wife and how bad it had ended. Richard joined him with sharing one or two stories about Maxime and even Khira when she was little.

Over all they had a great time sharing stories, talking music, suggesting ideas for the upcoming concerts, and just drinking. Richard had forgotten about the fit he had earlier and about the creature they had mentioned when he had first sat down until random conversation lead them back to it.

Oli had fallen silent for what they considered a long period of time now. He was a quiet man most of the time, but he had been quiet for longer than usual, so it ended with them asking if he was feeling ok.  
Oli removed his gaze from the fire and with a tipsy smile nodded "I'm wasted"

The band laughed at this and Richard took this time to think for a moment. He drank from his bottle one more time and finally asked about their initial conversation.  
"Oh yeah," Paul remembered looking at the bassist "we are definitely drunk enough for it"

Oli shook his head and slurred not feeling capable of telling the full story in the state he was in "Dont even look at me."

Paul and Richard looked disappointed before looking between Till and Flake, who smiled but shook their heads, Till replying "I dont remember the full story"

"Alright, I'll say it" Schneider smiled at their disappointed faces and began "According to the legend, Der Großmann is a fairy from way back in the 16th or 18th century, I dont really remember. Parents would warn their children not to go into the woods late at night, or even stay up too late for that matter."

"And a fairy is scary, how?" Richard asked not feeling the scary vibe

"Well," Doom continued "If the children did not do this, then Der Großmann would come and take them."  
Richard scoffed getting a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket and lighting it between his lips. He took a long drag out of it and said between his teeth and the cancer stick "right…"

"Shhh!" Came a hiss from Paul, who even though he knew the story he wanted to listen to it again "cant you enjoy a story for once? We're drunk in the woods, it's past midnight, its the perfect atmosphere for it. Just enjoy it."

"Sorry," he smiled taking the cigarette out of his mouth, amused by his fellow guitarist's childishness and encouraged Doom to continue.

The drummer said "Der großmann lures the children by haunting them. He whispers in their head to come to him, calls their name in the dark, taps on their windows at night if they're up too late. If the children go to him they are said to walk into his arms never to be seen again."

Richard sucked on his cigarette once more with a serious expression before smiling at Oli "A fairy..?" But Oli just shrugged "Man, I was like 5."

"I cant believe you had never heard the story before! It's a traditional German urban legend. Our parent scared us shitless with it" Till told him looking excited and amused in his drunk state.

"Even you?" Richard raised his eyebrows not really believing him  
"I had nightmares with it as a child." The frontman nodded and spoke again, this time sounding scarier "And some say he can even take adults"

"In our defense Der großmann is not a regular fairy" Flake replied "He is very tall and thin-"

"Like yourself?" The guitarist joked rudely getting a frown and death stare from his friend while he let out a cloud of smoke from his system

"No, nothing like Flake" The drummer continued suppressing a small laugh that came from deep within his throat, lowering his voice to emphasize the story just like Till did a moment ago "He's got multiple limbs and a disfigured face"

"According to the americans he has no face, but I was always told his face is horrifying" Paul added making Richard think. This time starting to get into their tale. The smallest of them kept speaking "There was a man that was woken by his child screaming, and after he told him that he'd seen an evil angel. Then, the boy started finding dead animals all around the property but his parents never believed him"

Schneider nodded. "He disappeared soon after and his family fled. Their last diary entry stating they feared for their lives as the angel was coming for them. This supports Till's theory of him getting adults too."

After Doom said this, Richard's eyes looked like a small boy's, glued to whoever was speaking. So immersed in the story he could imagine a crooked face with horrifying eyes. The other band members enjoying his body language as he looked more and more scared the more he thought about the creature

"He hides amongst the trees and watches you." Doom continued making Richard look around the trees surrounding them while the taller man continued speaking as if warning him about it and leaned a little closer to him "He Hunts you, and when you finally realize it it is too late. According to what I was told the last thing you see before he catches you is that horrible face and gruesome smile of his"

Richard's eyes widened slightly. A slight cold feeling ran down his spine when his mind pictured it perfectly and-

"RAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!" Oli roared jumping on him to grab him from behind making everyone laugh except for Richard, who had screamed his lungs out and bolted, somehow ending on the ground behind Till. His heart beating so fast and with such force against his ribs he could swear it was going to explode in there.

"Come on, it wasn't that scary" The singer laughed and helped him up before encouraging him to join them back, which he did, staring angrily at the bassist who still laughed next to Flake.

"I knew you had good vocal chords, but I never thought you could shriek like that" Flake said between laughs making Paul, Schneider, and Oliver laugh even harder.

"Oh, fuck you" Richard growled getting back on his seat. There was no way in hell he was sleeping alone tonight. 

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, thank you for reading. I had fun writing this. I tried to correct typos the best I could, english is not my mother tongue. This is my first story, I'm so excited!  
> I was inspired by a Video I watched about Der Großmann. 
> 
> I do not intend to offend anyone, or change anyone's views on the people mentioned in this work. It is a work of fiction and I by no means intend to shape anyone's idea on the character of these men.  
> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
